The researchers, from the University of Washington School of Medicine, the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Institute and the UW School of Nursing, reported their findings Aug. 8 in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Dr. Cecilia Lee, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, is the lead author.

“What we found was not subtle,” said co-author Dr. Paul Crane, professor of medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, at the UW School of Medicine. “This study solidifies that there are mechanistic things we can learn from the brain by looking at the eye.”